Chapter 41: The Trail of Sherek! [Request for Recommendation Vote]
2017-01-21
Author: Zhu Sheng Fu Tu
The Arborist’s expression was somewhat excited.
They seemed to regard the golden Treant infused with Soren’s Avatar as a presence related to Father Oak, and thus many Treant guards surrounded Soren, advancing alongside him to break through the enemy’s defenses.
This was an experience Soren had never encountered before. After transforming into a golden Treant, he possessed astonishing defensive abilities, being virtually immune to ordinary physical attacks, with similarly impressive resistance to spell damage. Under the absolute suppression of size and strength, any of Soren’s ordinary attacks could rival those of elder dragons, whether Dragon Lich or Demon, having no equal. A group of Treants forced their way to the entrance of the Temple, behind them lay countless corpses of Naraku cultists, but their combat largely came to an end here.
Because of the Treants’ enormous size, they simply couldn’t enter the Temple.
Next came the time for the Monks to play their part; numerous Monks, Rangers, and Druids began to push forward, and Chan glanced meaningfully at Soren’s golden Treant as she passed.
She sensed a faint familiar aura but dared not confirm it.
Intense combat erupted.
This battle would determine whether stability could be achieved near the d*ath Desert; many monasteries sent their upper echelons, with dozens of legendary Monks and Druids present within sight.
Soren tried to detach from the current Treant Avatar.
As Soren’s figure withdrew, the towering golden Treant immediately shrank down to a height of several meters, while the nearby Arborists appeared contemplative, as if they sensed something.
“Father Oak has not fallen!”
“He has merely fallen into slumber, yet he is still watching over us!”
An elderly Arborist exclaimed excitedly, seemingly mistaking Soren’s Avatar as the divine presence of Father Oak.
However,
Soren knew that Father Oak truly had fallen; although unable to comprehend his mode of existence, the gods couldn’t sense or perceive Father Oak, and he should have, to some extent, already ‘died.’
Otherwise, the Lord of Radiance would have done everything possible to resurrect Father Oak.
Having once been a nature deity, Loshandar always believed that Father Oak’s existence was an indispensable part of the world, and with Father Oak’s powers, mending the wounds of the Material Plane would be much easier.
The battle continued.
Inside the Temple, numerous Naraku cultists had long been resisting, and many Demons had been summoned to the Material Plane.
However, Soren’s involvement in the ongoing fights was now limited; in fact, not only the Eastern Kingdom but others across the continent were also searching for and destroying Naraku’s Temples.
“Soren’s aura!?”
When Soren’s divine senses left the golden Treant, a familiar aura reached his perception.
At the rear of the Monk order, a legendary-level Wanderer seemed a bit conspicuous; he did not appear to be a human from the Eastern Kingdom, standing amidst a group of high-ranking Monks. Soren sensed the powers of the Three d*ath Deities emanating from him.
“The Chosen of Sherek!”
Soren seemed to have discovered something, his expression suddenly showing a hint of delight.
As the master of the Divine Profession of [m*rder], Sherek had an astonishing capability for stealth and concealment. Soren had searched for a long time and had not found him or his divine chosen, yet unexpectedly discovered one here.
“This is truly a great thanks to Your Excellency Madra!”
An elderly Druid nodded slightly in appreciation towards the stealthy figure that Soren noticed, saying, “If it weren’t for Your Excellency Madra discovering this Temple, the turmoil this time wouldn’t have been so easy.”
Madra was that Wanderer.
He looked like an elegant middle-aged noble and waved his hand in response to the words, saying, “Fighting against the evil Naraku is everyone’s unshirkable responsibility. No need to thank me for this.”
“Let us strike decisively to eliminate these evil miscreants!”
Upon hearing his words, Soren was suddenly contemplative.
It seemed this Wanderer had discovered Naraku’s Temple, then informed the Monk order, and united with them to launch an attack.
“What does Sherek intend to do?”
“Use the powers of others to weaken Naraku’s strength?”
Soren absolutely did not believe that Sherek’s chosen would be allies of justice; the only explanation must be using external forces to strike at the enemy.
Many high-ranking Monks joined the battle.
However, the Wanderer named Madra did not join in; he quietly slipped into the shadows and moved to the other side of the frontline.
He was a divine chosen with permanent invisibility.
His departure went unnoticed, with only Soren perceiving him, and he stealthily transformed and followed behind.
The Wanderer headed southward.
After advancing several dozen kilometers, he arrived near a concealed underground cave. This divine chosen cautiously surveyed the surroundings, setting up a triggering trap before carefully entering.
A small trap posed no trouble for Soren.
He swiftly slipped into the shadows and followed, soon reaching a hidden underground chamber through a winding series of tunnels.
It was a very rudimentary altar.
It seemed to have been established not long ago, at most no longer than half a month.
“Master.”
The divine chosen knelt before the altar and prayed, “Madra has completed the task. The fools of the monastery are attacking Naraku’s Grand Temple; it seems today they can completely eradicate the enemy.”
A shadow materialized.
A dim form emerged in a twisted manner, followed by the appearance of a pale and cold-looking man.
“Very good.”
Sherek’s Avatar brimmed with joy and satisfaction, nodding, “Continue the preparations. Naraku will soon hold the promotion ceremony, and Klanvor is also preparing to launch an attack.”
“Our opportunity is at hand.”
Madra’s expression also turned excited at this, “Yes! Our master shall reclaim d*ath!”
Sherek’s figure faded away.
His restored power was not significant; although he had ambushed the Gnome pantheon, he had also offended new enemies, and he needed to devise ways to sow discord to find opportunities.
The divine Avatar gradually dissipated.
Such a rudimentary altar could not sustain Sherek’s Avatar for long. Soon, his divine essence departed from here, and the divine chosen Madra began to destroy the altar, ensuring no one would learn of Sherek’s presence, for Klanvor equally despised Sherek.
However!
At that moment, the surrounding space suddenly froze.
A dark silhouette solidified into form as Soren’s Avatar unexpectedly appeared, directly reaching out to seize Madra’s throat, immediately casting an exceptionally high-difficulty spiritual control spell to subdue him.
“I didn’t expect to catch a big fish here!”
Soren’s face was filled with joy as he activated his [Tracking] domain, murmuring, “Finally found you! You cunning fox!”
A trace of divine power spread.
Soren instantly sensed the fluctuations of the altar, pinpointing a coordinate far to the south.
At the same time, he used the soul-binding spell on the divine chosen before him, believing that from this divine chosen’s soul, he could extract a wealth of useful information!
